The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c21: Chapter XIX

The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c21

Language: English

Chapter XIX

c21.1

Rennell, 317, speaking from his experience, says the length of a day's journey in Hindūstān was 11 to 12 *kos* or about 22 miles, for an ordinary traveller; but that of a courier may be reckoned at 30 or 33 miles; and on occasions of emergeney they could travel even more, and that for a continuance of fifteen or twenty days. But these figures must not be taken as any standard for army marching. These was an official rate of progress laid down for single officers or small parties travelling to or from Court. At times there were, however, forced marches which much exceeded the ordinary length; on the other hand, the rate of advance of a large army was very much less than the official rate of marching, for "slowness of motion and the smallness of the stages are in the idea of the Indians a part of the state that must attend a great man" (*Seir*, i, 187, note 131). Bernier, 358, alludes to this when he writes, "this is indeed slow and solemn marching, what we here call *à la mogole*".

c21.2

In detailed histories where events are recorded day by day, such as Dānishmand Khān's *Bahādur Shāh nāmah* and Kāmwar Khān's *Tazkirah-i-salātīn-i-chaghataiyah*, the length of each day's march is stated with great precision in *jarībī* or measured *kos*. This precision is accounted for, no doubt, by a statement found in Firishtah, *Maqālah* ii, p. 212, line 1. He tells us that a *tanāb-i-paimāish* followed the army, and by it the distance traversed was measured. The introduction of the practice into India was attributed to Bābar. One hundred *tanāb* made one *tanāb* (the word is *kos*, in the quotation of the passage to be found on fol. 38*a* of B.M. Or. 2005, *Tārīkh-i-Aḥmad Shāhī* c. 1167 H.). Each *tanāb* was of 40 yards (*gaz*) and each *gaz* was of nine average fists (*musht*). This would make a *kos* of 4000, instead of 5000 *gaz*, as the later reckoning was. It was apparently Akbar who lengthened the *tanāb* from 40 to 50 *gaz* (*Āīn* (Jarrett) ii, 414).

c21.3

Niccalào Manucci saw these measurements actually being made when ʿĀlamgīr left Dihli in 1663, Berlin Ms. Phillipps 1945, fol. 48, and he gives a detailed account of the process. "Other men on foot march with a rope to measure the road, as follows. They begin at the royal tent when the king starts. The first man, who holds tho rope in his hand, makes a mark in the ground, and when the man behind comes up to it, he calls out "One". Then the other man makes another mark and counts two: and thus they continue for the whole march, counting "Three", "Four" and so on, the other peon also keeping count. Should the king ask how far he has gone, they calculate the number of ropes making up a league, and answer accordingly".

c21.4

Dr. Horn, 115, states that his researches have not yielded him material for an exhaustive treatment of this section. Without any pretence to be exhaustive, I hope to he able to throw some further light upon the subject.

c21.5

The official day's march. If a man was summoned to court, the time for his arrival was calculated in the following way (B.M. 1641, fol. 40*b*):

c21.6

1) For the order to reach him by the postrunners, 30 measured (*jarībī*) *kos* (78 miles) a day.
2) For preparation to march, one week.
3) For the march, 7 measured *kos* (18.2 miles) a day.

c21.7

The imperial measured *kos* was 200 *jarībs* of 25 *diraʿh* each, that is, 5000 *diraʿh* (B.M. 1641, fol. 51*a*). The following doggrel lines afford a *memoria technica* of this fact:

c21.8

*Panj alaf āmad zi gaz miqdār-i-mīl,* *In manābazat bar īn bāshad dalīl.*

c21.9

“Five thousand will yield in yards the mile’s length, This specification affords the proof thereof”.

c21.10

(Khushḥāl Chand, *Nādir-uz-Zamānī*, B. M. Or. 1844, fol. 159*b*).

c21.11

The *diraʿh* may be safely assumed to be the same as the *gaz-i-ilāhī*, which has been found to be, as nearly as could be ascertained, 33 inches in length (Elliot, “Supp. Gloss.” 480, under “Ilahi Guz”, and 229, under “Coss”, see also Prinsep, “Useful Tables”, Calcutta, 1834, p. 88, 89). Thus the length of one *jarībī* kos would be 4583½ yards or 2.6 miles; and 7 kos equals 18.2 miles. The reputed (*rasamī*) kos was shorter, one *jarībī* equalled 1.71 *rasamī* kos, and the *rasamī* kos was thus 1.52 miles in length. But this latter kos varies greatly in different parts of the country.

c21.12

We can prove the ordinary rate of a day’s journey from other sources. For instance, Khushḥāl Chand *Nādir-uz-Zamānī*, B.M. 24,027, fol. 247*b*, tells us that from Dihlī to within twelve kos of Kābul the distance was 306 *jarībī* kos, or 535½ *rasamī* kos, and that it was one and a half month’s journey. Taking thirty days to a month, or forty five days in all, we find that this brings out a rate of 6⅘ *jarībī* and 11⅞ *rasamī* kos travelled each day, or almost exactly the same as the distance fixed in the official manual.

c21.13

Then Mīrzā Muḥammad, Ḥārisī, gives in his Memoirs details of several journeys that he made. After Bahādur Shāh’s death he came from Lāhor to Dihlī in twenty three marches, viâ Nakodar, Phalūr, Ambālah, and Karnāl. The reputed distance was 107 kos, measured on the map it comes to about 288 miles, or at the rate of 2.6 miles to the kos to 278 miles. This gives only 4.65 kos or 12.09 miles a day. But then we must recollect that for most of the time he travelled in the company of Bahādur Shāh’s widows, who were bringing that emperor's body for burial at Dihlī. Under these circumstances they may be supposed to have travelled less quickly than was usual. Again in 1130 H. (1718) the same Mīrzā Muḥammad went from Dihlī to Jalālābād in the Muzaffarnagar district in five marches; the distances he gives, when added up, come to 53 kos, an average of over 10 kos (27 miles) a day. He also returned to Dihlī in five marches. The next year, 1131 H. (1719) the same man went as an ‘Āmil to parganah Rāhūn in the Jālandhar dūābah. He reached the place in twelve marches. Measured on the map the distance is roughly about 200 miles, which gives an average of 16⅔ miles as his daily march. Again in 1126 H. it took ‘Abd-ul-jalīl, Bilgrāmī, four months to march from Bhakkar to Dihlī, a distance of about 850 miles (Oriental Miscellany, pp. 133—295, Letter Nº. 6) by the usual route viâ Lāhor. This yields an average of a little over seven miles a day; but then we do not know what halts he made.

c21.14

Forced marches. The ilghār, or forced march, is mentioned by Horn, 21. Some remarkable feats of this nature were performed by Akbar; notably his advance on Gujarāt in 1573 (Elphinstone, 443). Such activity was not displayed in later times, and the Moghuls were habitually outmarched and out-manœuvered by the Mahrattas. It is true that late instances of forced marches by Maisūr troops are on record, but these can hardly be taken as applicable to the Moghul organization. Ḥaidar and Tipū Sulṭān kept their troops in exceptional order, and what they did could not be done by other native armies. In 1781 Ḥaidar marched one hundred miles in two days and a half, and in November 1790 Tipū's entire army marched sixty three miles in two days. In our early days in India our own troops performed feats quite as wonderful. In 1805 General Smith's cavalry followed Amīr Khān 700 miles in 43 days (Blacker, 281). Lord Lake also made some wonderful marches in 1803 and 1804.

c21.15

*Army marching.* We possess several detailed accounts of long marches undertaken by the later emperors at the head of large armies. When ʿĀlamgīr died two of his sons fought together for the crown. But at the time of their father's death, one was at Jamrūd, a little west of Peshāwar, and the other was in the imperial camp at Aḥmadnagar in the Dakhin. There were thus about 1200 miles between them; they at once commenced to march towards each other, and finally met in battle in June 1707 between Āgrah and Dholpur.

c21.16

The eldest son, Prince Muʿazzam, Shāh ʿĀlam, reached Āgrah in sixty-two days. The route was covered thus: Jamrūd to the Indus, 8 days, the Indus to Lāhor, 19 days, Lāhor to Dihlī, 25 days, Dihlī to Āgrah, 10 days. The distance measured on the map, with an addition of one eighth for the windings of the road¹, is about 690 miles. The average distance covered is thus about 11.1 miles (including halts).

c21.17

¹ Rennell's rule, "Memoir", 7, is "Break the horizontal distance into portions of 100 or 150 miles, and add one eighth to get the road distance".

c21.18

Starting from the other direction, Prince Aʿzam Shāh, the second son, was ninety two days on the march. From Aḥmadnagar to Aurangābād took him 15 days, Aurangābād to Burhānpur, 22 days, Burhānpur to Sironj, 20 days, Sironj to Gwāliyar, 29 days, Gwāliyar to Dholpur, 6 days. The total number of days being ninety two and the distance on the map about 505 miles, the average rate of progress was about 5.48 miles (including halts). Some farther details may be noted. Aurangābād to Burhānpur was, we are told, 56½ kos done in 18 marches and 4 halts; the actual marching thus averaged here 3¼ kos (8.16 miles) a day. Burhānpur to Sironj, given as over 114 kos (296.8 miles), was done in 17 actual marches, or a daily average of 6.7 kos (17.42 miles). By the map I make it 242 miles, which yields an average of 14.2 miles.

c21.19

The two marches above described were made under the strongest possible pressure of haste, and must represent the utmost that a Moghul army was able to do in the way of continuous marching. In ordinary times the usual march of an army never exceeded 4½ kos (11.7 miles) and was sometimes as little as 1¼ kos (3.25 miles). When Bahādur Shāh marched from Āgrah to the Dakhin, and then back viâ Ajmer to Lāhor, the historians record the length of 340 separate marches. Most of them were of 3 to 3½ kos each (7.8 to 9.1 miles). This monarch always halted on Friday, and there was generally a long halt in the month of Ramazān on account of the fast. Some of the facts may be tabulated as follows:

c21.20

| NAME OF PLACE. | NUMBER OF MARCHES. | NUMBER OF HALTS. | TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS. | TOTAL DISTANCE MARCHED (APPROXIMATE). | AVERAGE DAILY MARCH (EXCLUDING DAYS HALTED). |
| FROM | TO | | | | miles | miles |
| Āgrah | Jaipur | 20 | 50 | 70 | 155 | 7.75 |
| Jaipur | Mairtha | 16 | 12 | 28 | 140 | 8.75 |
| Mairtha | Ajmer | 14 | 17 | 31 | 45 | 3.21 |
| Ajmer | Burhānpur | 40 | 39 | 79 | 427 | 10.67 |
| Burhānpur | Haidarābād | 61 | 144 | 205 | 360 | 5.9 |
| Haidarābād | Aurangābād | 44 | 87 | 131 | 315 | 7.15 |
| Aurangābād | Burhānpur | 15 | 38 | 53 | 135 | 9.0 |
| Burhānpur | Narbada bank | 11 | 17 | 28 | 72 | 6.54 |
| Narbada bank | Ajmer | 50 | 130 | 180 | 355 | 7.1 |
| Ajmer | Sonpat | 21 | 97 | 118 | 318 | 15.14 |
| Sonpat | Thānesar | 8 | 11 | 19 | 68 | 8.5 |
| Thānesar | Beyond Sādhaurah | 7 | 8 | 15 | 48 | 6.85 |
| Sādhaurah | Lāhor | 33 | 200 | 233 | 220 | 6.66 |
| Total | | 340 | 850 | 1190 | 2658 | 7.81 |

c21.21

The whole period occupied, namely from the 12th Nov. 1707 to the 11th Aug. 1711, comprises 1369 days, of which 1190 days are shown above. The remaining 179 days were spent at some of the principal places named in the first column.

c21.22

Another instance is when Dārā Shukoh was sent to recover Qandahār. He reached that place in thirty three marches from Multān (Raverty, “Notes”, 22). Assuming that his route was by the Bolān pass, the distance may be estimated as 608 miles. This gives an average daily march of 18.4 miles.

c21.23

We have also some other accounts, which are sufficiently specific to afford us information of the usual rate at which an army marched. For example, we have the advance of Farrukhsīyar from Paṭnah to encounter his uncle, Jahāndār Shāh, in the neighbourhood of Āgrah. The prince left Paṭnah on the 22rd Sept. 1712 and reached Sarāe Begam, opposite Samūgarh, east of Āgrah, on the 4th January 1713. The distance from Paṭnah to Āgrah was commonly reckoned as 300 *kos* (780 miles), Khūshḥāl Chand, B.M. Addl. 24,027, fol. 220*a*. I make it no more, however, than 585 miles on the map (allowing 1/8th for the windings of the road); and as Farrukhsīyar did not keep to the usual route, but deviated a good deal to the right, in order to visit the shrine of Shāh Madār at Makhanpur, I should estimate the distance actually travelled at about 610 miles. The stages (including the final advance to Dihlī) were:

c21.24

| STAGES. | NUMBER OF MARCHES. | NUMBER OF HALTS. | TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS. | APPROXIMATE TOTAL DISTANCE MARCHED. | AVERAGE DAILY MARCH (EXCLUDING DAYS HALTED). |
| FROM | TO | | | | | miles | miles |
| Paṭnah | Banāras | 19 | 23 | 42 | 180 | 9.47 |
| Banāras | Allahābād | 5 | 6 | 11 | 90 | 18.0 |
| Allahābād | Makhanpur | 17 | 11 | 28 | 180 | 10.58 |
| Makhanpur | Āgrah | 17 | 8 | 25 | 157 | 9.23 |
| Āgrah | Khiẓrābād (outside Dihlī) | 12 | 8 | 20 | 130 | 10.83 |
| Total | | 70 | 56 | 126 | 737 | 10.51 |

c21.25

We have the record of two long marches of Jahāndār Shāh, first from Lāhor to Dihlī shortly after his accession, secondly, from Dihlī to Āgrah to oppose Farrukhsīyar.

c21.26

c21.27

Again the march of Sayyad Ḥusain ʿAlī Khān from the Dakhin, a march undertaken under circumstances of extreme urgency, should afford an excellent test of the rate at which a Moghul army could march. He left Aurangābād about the 11th Nov. 1718, and reached a suburb of Dihlī on the 16th Feb. 1719. His march thus occupied 98 days, and his route by way of Burhānpur, Ujjain, and Āgrah, measures about 695 miles on the map, allowing 1/8th for the windings of the road. His average daily rate of marching (including any days on which he halted) was thus 7.1 miles.

c21.28

The last instance I shall refer to is the march of Muhammad Shāh in 1719 from Āgrah past Fatḥpur Sikrī to Todah Bhīm in the direction of Jaipur. I make out the distance to be about 90 miles; it took the army twenty seven days to reach Todah Bhīm; but they marched on twelve days only and halted on fifteen days. The average daily made was thus about 7 1/2 miles.